Executive Director's Report • June 2024

Looking Ahead to the Annual Meeting

I'm looking forward to seeing many of you later this month at the 2024 State Bar of Texas Annual Meeting. We’ll be gathering June 20-21 at the Hilton Anatole in Dallas. If you haven’t registered yet, be sure to do so by June 16 at texasbar.com/annualmeeting. Or you can register on-site in Dallas.

As always, you will be able to earn an entire year’s worth of CLE in two days at the meeting, and sessions will be offered in nearly every practice area. Additionally, many sections and groups will hold events where you can network with peers from across the state. Between events, stroll the exhibit hall to discover service providers to help your practice run more efficiently. Be sure to stop by and say hello to our friends from Legal Talk Network. They will be recording episodes for the State Bar of Texas Podcast.

We’ve got some great keynote speakers lined up for you. Thursday’s Bar Leaders Recognition Luncheon will feature California litigator and NBC News legal analyst Camille Vasquez. She is best known for representing actor Johnny Depp in the defamation case brought against his ex-wife Amber Heard.

On Friday morning, Professor David Grenardo will keynote the Bench Bar Breakfast. Grenardo is associate director of the Holloran Center for Ethical Leadership in the Professions at the University of St. Thomas School of Law in Minneapolis, Minnesota. He was previously a professor at St. Mary’s University School of Law, and he remains a member of the State Bar of Texas. Winner of the prestigious Warren E. Burger Prize, Grenardo has presented frequently on legal ethics at American Bar Association events and elsewhere and is often quoted in the media.

For Friday’s General Session Luncheon, we are honored to welcome Judge Irma Carrillo Ramirez. Judge Ramirez was recently confirmed to the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, making her the first Latina judge of the court, after previously serving as a federal magistrate judge for the Northern District of Texas. A longtime member of the State Bar of Texas, Judge Ramirez has received numerous awards for her service to the profession. We look forward to her remarks. Also during the luncheon, 2024-2025 State Bar of Texas President Steve Benesh will be sworn in.

And if, like me, you’re keen to keep up with what’s happening with artificial intelligence in the law, plan to attend a presentation from members of the State Bar of Texas Taskforce for Responsible AI in the Law on Thursday during the Adaptable Lawyer Track. Task force Chair John Browning and member District Judge Roy Ferguson will lead a session titled “AI Policy, Governance, and Task Force Report.”

We hope to see you in Dallas!

Sincerely,

TREY APFFEL
Executive Director, State Bar of Texas
Editor in Chief, Texas Bar Journal